Arun Jaitley shrugs off disappointment of defeat from Amritsar

Arun Jaitley today tried to shrug off the disappointment of his loss in Amritsar, saying it was like "a drop in the ocean" in the light of BJP's unprecedented victory in Lok Sabha polls. Asked about his future plans, the senior BJP leader, who is seen as a close confidant of Prime Minister apparent Narendra Modi, said he would go by whatever the party thinks right for him.

"I have no preference. If I am asked to do organisational work, I will be happiest," he said. Asked if he was suggesting that he would not be a part of Modi Cabinet, he said, "he was not suggesting anything". "Nobody is thinking about this at the moment. Party takes the final call," Jaitley said.

He attributed his loss to former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress leader Amarinder Singh to local factors which created an adverse situation. "It was a challenging seat we always knew. There appeared to be some local factors which were creating an adverse (mood).... There was some local factors but we thought we might make it. "There is always disappointment when you don't win. I am delighted at the BJP victory so large that my own defeat looks like a drop in the ocean. So it really doesn't matter," Jaitley said.

He said he has congratulated Singh on his "decisive" win and played down the bitter exchanges between them during the campaign, saying elections will be "boring" without them. Singh trounced Jaitley by a margin of more than one lakh votes. He rejected reports of difference within BJP over the reported displeasure of Sushma Swaraj at the turn of events in the party and said media has been "unkind" to her.

Swaraj, who is said to be sharing not the best of vibes with Modi, has been re-elected to Lok Sabha from Vidisha constituency in Lok Sabha.